Capturing the legacy of London 2012
27 October 2011
The Olympic movement has long looked to ensure that each event leaves a positive legacy for host nations and, for London 2012, this notion was at the heart of the capital’s bid for the event.
As well as aiming to increase participation in sport and promote economic development, the organisers are setting new standards by embedding sustainability in all aspects of the event. This means not only recycling everything from paper cups to an entire basketball stadium, but also doing everything possible to create a legacy of improved wildlife habitats in and around the Olympic venues. The establishment of the London Olympic Park, the biggest in Europe in over 150 years, is just one example of how this is being achieved.
New website to share learning
In order to maximize the future benefits of this strategy, everything that has been learnt in planning for a sustainable Olympics is now available from a new website, the London 2012 Learning Legacy
, to which Natural England has provided support. The site includes a host of detailed examples of how the planning and implementation of the games is creating lasting benefits, and includes themes ranging from transport and town planning to energy, waste management and biodiversity.
Natural England contributed to the Learning Legacy site by funding and providing information for two case studies: Olympic Parklands Green Infrastructure, and Promoting biodiversity in Olympic Parklands. The case studies were also supported by Defra.
Numerous other case studies on the site are well worth checking out, including one on the translocation of habitats and species and another on the Olympic Park Biodiversity Action Plan.
Jacqui Stearn, London 2012 programme manager at Natural England, said: “A huge amount of work has gone into seeing that the Games live up to the aspiration of being a sustainable event. The Learning Legacy website captures the breadth of this work in a way that will enable other major regeneration projects to follow the lead of London 2012.”
